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Other Dark Souls 2

Discussion in 'Gaming' started by Sloth, 10 Apr 2013.

  1. Sloth

    Sloth #yolo #swag

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    Finally some footage of Dark Souls 2 gameplay is out!

    Fixed video:



    Needless to say, I'm excited. Dark Souls has an extremely dedicated community who will be expecting a lot from its sequel. Dark Souls' massive commercial success compared to Demon's Souls was great to see for the sake of the developer's success and for creating a larger playbase, but brings with it some fears for Dark Souls 2. Early information about the game included some changes in roles at From Software and mentions of trying to make the game more accessible to new players and reach the "Skyrim audience". No surprise given the close battles between the two games on gaming news/review sites. Many fans, including myself, worry that this could damage everything that we love about the game in the hopes of increasing sales (gotta be easy enough for the average Pewdiepie fan!). With so many fears and concerns it's hugely exciting to see some gameplay and start looking at what the game is actually becoming.

    So how about some thoughts I've had as a huge DeS/DkS fan, starting with the good bits:
    -Visually impressive. Both previous games have been great looking as far as console games go, DkS2 does not drop the bar here.
    -New focus on lighting effects and interaction with the world with the ability to pick up and carry torches. No longer just the Skull Lantern in Tomb of the Giants, this seems to be advertised a fairly important feature which will be found throughout the world.
    -Enemies (supposedly) react to players actions. This seems to be an expansion on the AI improvements made in DkS1. It's hard to really see in the video, but is mentioned. Stand behind them, they might use a different attack that strikes behind rather than turning and doing a standard attack.
    -Dual wielding expanded. The ability to equip two weapons has always been present, but has never been a major feature with limited usefulness. The ability to now attack simultaneously with two weapons seems to have been added and could make this a viable playstyle.
    -More tricks and traps. Various "traps" are shown in the video and it's great to know they're still present. It's also awesome to see some throwbacks such as the wyvern landing on the bridge (when the dragon flies by enter Undead Burg), or the skeleton dragon attack after the item is looked (Undead dragon in Valley of Drakes). Fans of the series will be given a little heads up on what to be wary of!
    -Enemy breaking through walls. Tough to tell if this is a one off scripted event, or will be fairly common. Breakable pillars are already present in DkS1, hopefuly this takes it further and small walls around all large enemies will be breakable.
    -Spell levels. It's never shown or mentioned, but the magic system seems to have changed. The character's equipped spell has text reading "L1:15". Some speculation says this is Level 1, 15 Casts. Something to look forward to, spells will definitely been changed in some way.
    -Three dimensional world design and alternate routes. This is something DkS1 was promoting and doesn't seem to be going anywhere soon. The world appears to provide a wealth of vertical space to explore, and the mention of alternate routes hints at a more open world design.

    And of course, the bad, confusing, or need to see more:
    -Did that torch just block 100% physical?
    -Basic enemies seem to be push overs. Some speculation is that the character is over-geared for demonstration purposes. However, some nearby enemies still seem reasonably tough. Only time will tell.
    -With emphasis placed on atmopshere and never know what's coming next how will replayability fare? Both previous games have a New Game+ mode and promote replaying, hopefully there is incentive to do so.
    -Again on just how strong is this character: it's fairly well equipped and is rolling around quite well. Move back to the DeS roll system? Shift in balance to promote heavily armed characters? Only an anomaly for demonstration purposes? Time will tell.

    And the big confusing thing with almost no mention:
    -That's not a humanity counter in the upper left. Also, we never see a face. Just who or what is the player?

    I'm very eager to see more! Hopefully some new people might get in on this or old fans might have some speculation of their own!
     
    Last edited: 15 Apr 2013
  2. Eiffie

    Eiffie What's a Dremel?

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    So stoked for this game but a few things about the recent gameplay video I didn't like. I don't know if it's because the game isn't complete yet or if it's because it's just a demo but I really didn't like 1 - the world itself seems less interesting than any of the locations in Dark Souls visually. The "mansion of the dragons" section kinda gave me a anor londo/duke's archives vibe but it didn't envoke the same sorta wonder and "wow" factor that those locations did. 2 - The developers seem to be focusing on how "hard" the game will be and while a good difficulty is very much what the first two souls games were about, I think the real magic of dark souls and demon's souls was the world itself and the lore that was buried deep within the game. Dieing 25 times to a boss before you figure out how to beat it might be part of the dark souls style but the deaths were secondary the actually learning more about the world itself and moving on, realizing that the boss you just killed maybe wasn't always such a monster as the one you fought but perhaps he was human once and had a family (ceaseless discharge). The previous two games had so much going for them besides how hard they were and yet 90% of what I hear from the marketing and commercials/videos as well as game reviewers is just how hard the games are but they never seem to even scratch the surface of what can really drive a player to play these games.

    Some things I did like 1 - the hud seemed to be nicer than in dark souls. It now looks like you can see your next spell in the rotation so you don't have to keep flipping through your spells if you miss it the first time in the heat of combat. 2 - it appears that your left and right handed items have bars below them on your hud, if this is a durability bar that you can see outside of the item menu then that is amazing because some enemies can damage the durability of items and in dark souls it was hard to tell just how close your items were to breaking before you needed repair, you only had an icon that indicated your items were weak. 3 - I liked how the player character can now deflect incoming objects with a well timed attack, that could give us some really nice puzzles later on. Just imagine if you've played demon's souls - the tower of latria - where you have to cross that bridge with the arrow trap that shoots 50+ arrows at you, imagine being able to katana those arrows out of your way instead of finding a way to turn off the trap.

    I'm really worried about this game, I loved dark souls and demon's souls but with the departure of Miyazaki who headed the first two games, I fear that the "soul" of the series is not quite there. (He's staying on as an advisor but from what I understand about japanese game companies that might not be a whole lot) He's THE GUY who put those two silver archers in anor londo on the ramps. He's the guy behind ceaseless discharge's backstory, he's the guy who gave gwyndolin his quirks, he's the guy who trolled people with the pendant but then tied the pendant into the lore of the whole game world with the DLC a year later. I'm really worried about Dark Souls 2.
     
  3. Sloth

    Sloth #yolo #swag

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    Being a demo they could just be playing cards close to their chest with the world, but it really is hard to tell. One thing that's gotten on my mind after thinking on it for a bit is how predominately indoors the demo seems to be. The new director's said the world will be similar sized but "more dense", I'm wondering if this is what he meant. It's hard to make two different hallways look interesting and distinct, I'm eagerly looking for some more outdoor/broad view shots.

    In my optimisim I try to think that the Souls style storytelling and character design will remain. It's another one of the things the "Skyrim audience" threatens, but considering how quiet they've been on the story they might, hopefully, be trying to keep it unknown for the players to explore. No game has ever made me feel as conflicted as killing Maiden Astraea and having Garl kill himself, and no game I've played has ever had as deeply puzzling mysteries such as the purpose of the Pendant. Early commentary on the game suggests that various things will be more apparent which is worrying, but even a known unknown is still an unknown.

    I forgot about the next spell indicator! Great add. The lock on indicator has also changed color to make it slightly easier to see. I can't help but wonder if this will be customizable at all, the blue stands out well but strikes me as somewhat unfitting.

    The other big improvement I forgot to mention: dedicated servers. Namco Bandai apparently decided to pony up, a smart move given how often requested they are and how long running Atlus has made Demon's Souls. Should do away with all the connection troubles, lag, and cheating on PC.

    It should also be noted that while not being directly stated as a launch platform (to my knowledge) the Dark Souls 2 official website has a PC icon along with the Xbox and Playstation icons. If they take it one step further and realize how terrible GWFL is and no longer use it I'll be in Heaven.
     
  4. Eiffie

    Eiffie What's a Dremel?

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    If GFWL is dropped from DS2 for the PC version I might switch from PS3 to PC. I was heavily debating getting the PC version of DS1 and I ended up not because of the high level of cheaters who used edited save game files on GFWL. I do like the ps3 community though, I might forgo some nicer graphics just to play with some people I know. Decisions, decisions.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEG7nxBxMz8 - One of my favorite players and she always has some nice videos of her versus some hackers on PC.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob0hV4JWonM - And again.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqQ_zjqrvi8&list=UUKXqcI40NlIJYAmtzaieCFA&index=14 - And again.
     
  5. Sloth

    Sloth #yolo #swag

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    I picked it up both because I love PC gaming, and to show support for branching the series onto PC platform. The cheating is fairly rampant, but it's all what you make of it. Infinite health or maxed stats (while remaining low level) are frustrating when you're just trying to play along and not focused on PvP (beyond the normal risk of a fair player invading).

    My worst experience was with an invader who used Divine Blessings to heal himself. Given the scarcity of them using even one, let alone multiple in a relatively trivial fight is a strong indicator that they were cheated in. I decided to call him out on it and he admitted they weren't legitimately obtained, but argued that this wasn't cheating. How someone could honestly believe using an outside tool to modify the game to their advantage (even though it's pretty slight in this case) wasn't cheating? That's when I realized how many people might feel the same and truly despaired.

    EDIT: I'd never watched any of Emarrel's videos before... this'll have to change.
     
    Last edited: 12 Apr 2013
  6. MjFrosty

    MjFrosty Minimodder

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    Video no longer active :(

    I have enjoyed Dark Souls so far, but I stopped playing around 50-60% of the way through some time back. For me at least a lot of the appeal that drew me in was the difficulty. Although you soon realise it's not all that difficult. It just doesn't spoon feed you. Might have to pick up and finish it to justify moving on to #2 :).
     
  7. Wira

    Wira Spoderman

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    Sloth and MjFrosty like this.
  8. suenstar

    suenstar Collector of Things

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    Video code fixed. :)

    -----
    On topic, I haven't actually looked at Dark Souls yet. I completely missed the first game so not sure if I should jump right into this one or play through that first.
    Does anyone know if there's any relevance to playing them in order or are they completely separate?
     
  9. Wira

    Wira Spoderman

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    by doing what, I just couldn't figure out how to make it work :wallbash:
     
  10. suenstar

    suenstar Collector of Things

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    Rather that putting the whole URL between the [/YOUTUBE] tags, you just need to use the last bit after "watch?v=", so for your video you'd put "z_JFDPCtXFY" between the tags. :)

    It'll look like this (without the space in the opening tag):
    Code:
    [ youtube]z_JFDPCtXFY[/youtube]
     
  11. Sloth

    Sloth #yolo #swag

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    Dark Souls 2 is claimed to be a direct sequel, so playing the first is likely to be a good idea. It's not well known at the time just how "direct" they mean or how much new-comers will be filled in.

    Amazon has Dark Souls for $20 for PS3/360. You could likely find Steam codes for $30 (be warned you'll want a controller even for PC). There are quite a few reviews and gameplay videos out there to check it out!
     
  12. Eiffie

    Eiffie What's a Dremel?

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    I think your going to be pretty confused your first play of either game. I know I was very confused. Black hole in my brain confused. I still haven't recovered.
     
  13. Eiffie

    Eiffie What's a Dremel?

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    Also I agree with Sloth on needing a gamepad. Normally I'm the kinda person who would just mouse & keyboard it but the souls games are actually really well suited to a gamepad, every button is used in a fairly good way with not a lot of over-laping commands. Not to mention being able to run/walk with a joystick which can be super needed during a few "tight-rope" sections of the game *cough cough - the great hollow - tomb of the giants - cough cough*. I think the only button that isn't used on my ps3 controller in dark souls by default controls is pushing in on the left stick, everything else is used.
     
  14. Sloth

    Sloth #yolo #swag

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    There's a keyboard button to toggle run/walk, it's just not as intuitive. That really sums up keyboard and mouse for this game: not intuitive. The core combat mechanics are designed heavily around the idea of a controller with two shoulder buttons/triggers on each side, and 3rd person games naturally thrive with two joysticks for independent character and camera control.

    Some more reports have come out stating that the PC is a focus for Dark Souls 2, and that even the demo was run on a PC. Should mean some better video options (it's already claimed that resolution and FPS caps are removed) and perhaps slightly better KB+M controls, but since such core elements of the game work so well with a controller expect it to be widely preferred again.
     
  15. Sloth

    Sloth #yolo #swag

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    Welp, with the console release right around the corner it's time for an update: For those who were unaware, PC release is delayed until April 25th. No, you aren't reading that wrong. Yes, the console release is still March 11th. Despite PC having been claimed as the lead platform, it will be launching a month and a half later than on consoles. There are some benefits, namely a lower cost and some graphical goodies, but it's a let down to say the least.

    That out of the way, I may have had a bit of time playing it already. :worried: And honestly... it wasn't jaw dropping. With only a couple of hours played and only two bosses in it's hard to judge what seems to be a larger game than previous Souls titles, but there was nothing that said "You must play this now, get it on console".
     
  16. Otis1337

    Otis1337 aka - Ripp3r

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    The devs said DaS2 is not a squeal, its not hugely related to the story on DaS1.
    Just like DeS and DaS are loosely connected.

    Dev's said on an GamesTrailers video while back that you will be playing in a parallel mirrored universe of DaS1... So there is connections but if your new too the Dark universe, you are not really missing anything big within the story as none of the 3 games are linked too much.
     
  17. Sloth

    Sloth #yolo #swag

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    Yep, it's totally fine to play if you're totally new to the series. You'll just miss a few references meant to please fans. In fact, my biggest complaint so far is that the story telling is actually too thin. ~4 hours in and I couldn't accurately explain what's going on.

    I'll probably be grabbing this tomorrow to give a deeper hands on impression as I know there are a few pretty avid Souls fans here who may also be on the fence.
     
  18. Otis1337

    Otis1337 aka - Ripp3r

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    Waiting til the 25th of April for mine. PC high rez texture goodness :)
     
  19. Aterius Gmork

    Aterius Gmork smell the ashes

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    FTFY

    Does anyone know more about the PVP aspect of the game yet? More to the point is there a way to prevent invasions apart from playing offline? I can just imagine me being the filthy DS casual I am with my build geared towards having PVE fun having to go against some twinked out +5lightning weapon PVP d*ckwraith at 50% health.

    Not to mention the egghead curse hackers and the infinite health and stamina hackers fastrolling in Black Knight or Havels armor.
     
  20. Otis1337

    Otis1337 aka - Ripp3r

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    Cannot understand why you would not want online mode. Its awesome! You can summon people to help and its easier to get people on your friends list this time to be summoned.

    Invasions and summons you can only stop if you go offline as far as im aware.

    Also really hoping for Solaire to make a return for jolly co-operation. Praise the sun!
     
    Last edited: 11 Mar 2014

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